Gareth Bale capped a memorable week by scoring the winner to keep Tottenham's Champions League hopes alive as they beat Southampton 1-0 at White Hart Lane in the Premier League.

All the talk before the game was about the Welshman, who on Thursday added the Football Writers' Footballer of the Year award to the Professional Footballers' Association Player of the Year and Young Player of the Year awards he won last week.

Recommended Coverage

Spurs then lost influential midfielder Mousa Dembele on 35 minutes with what looked like a hamstring injury.

Lewis Holtby came on in place of the Belgian and could only watch as Rickie Lambert's free-kick was expertly tipped onto the post by Lloris. Steven Davis was quickest to react to the follow-up but his header was tame and straight at the French goalkeeper.

Premier League Ladder

P

W

D

L

GD

Pts

1

Chelsea

38

26

9

3

41

87

2

Man City

38

24

7

7

45

79

3

Arsenal

38

22

9

7

35

75

4

Man United

38

20

10

8

25

70

5

Tottenham

38

19

7

12

5

64

6

Liverpool

38

18

8

12

4

62

7

Southampton

38

18

6

14

21

60

8

Swansea

38

16

8

14

-3

56

9

Stoke

38

15

9

14

3

54

10

Crystal Palace

38

13

9

16

-4

48

11

Everton

38

12

11

15

-2

47

12

West Ham

38

12

11

15

-3

47

13

West Brom

38

11

11

16

-13

44

14

Leicester

38

11

8

19

-9

41

15

Newcastle

38

10

9

19

-23

39

16

Sunderland

38

7

17

14

-22

38

17

Aston Villa

38

10

8

20

-26

38

18

Hull

38

8

11

19

-18

35

19

Burnley

38

7

12

19

-25

33

20

QPR

38

8

6

24

-31

30

Round 38 - as at 00:00 AM, 25/05/15

Tactically Mauricio Pochettino's side got it spot on during the first period and prevented Spurs from having any notable attempts at Artur Boruc's goal.

The second half started in pretty much the same fashion. Spurs struggled to get a grip on the game and Adam Lallana tricked Michael Dawson before firing at Lloris.

As the game reached the closing stages Emmanuel Adebayor was sent on in place of Clint Dempsey and, when the Togolese forward sent Bale free, it appeared the home side may claim their first penalty at home for two years but referee Mark Clattenburg waved away the Spurs players protests.

Then, on 86 minutes, Bale illuminated what was largely a forgettable game. Picking the ball up on the right wing from Kyle Walker he cut inside before unleashing a sensational shot past Boruc and into the bottom corner.

It wrapped up a remarkable week for Bale and kept alive his side's hopes of playing Champions League football next season.

Spurs boss Andre Villas-Boas was again left to reflect on the influence of Bale, who had been well shackled by Southampton for most of the game.

"Again, it was decided by a great moment of individual brilliance," said Villas-Boas.

"We kept on pushing and Gareth played in three different positions today - as striker, then on the left and on the right to try and get the best out of him."

Pochettino felt Southampton did not deserve to lose and that his side were the better team for long periods.

"Yes, we played a very good game today and we deserved to leave this game with a result," said Pochettino.

"What's really important is that we competed and during long spells of the game we actually played better than Tottenham. But it's a shame not to get anything from out of this game."

News.com.au's Privacy Policy includes important information about our collection, use and disclosure of your personal information (including to provide you with targeted content and advertising based on your online activities). It explains that if you do not provide us with information we have requested from you, we may not be able to provide you with the goods and services you require. It also explains how you can access or seek correction of your personal information, how you can complain about a breach of the Australian Privacy Principles and how we will deal with a complaint of that nature.

A NOTE ABOUT RELEVANT ADVERTISING: We collect information about the content (including ads) you use across this site and use it to make both advertising and content more relevant to you on our network and other sites.